Caster-socket



N0. 6|7,467. Patented Jan. I0, I899.

F. C. MASON.

EASTER SOCKET. v Application filed May 17, 1898. {No Model.)

WITNESSES? INVLNTDKZ k krcmcis Qmason UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS C. MASON, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

CASTER-SOCKET;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,467, dated January 10, 1899. Application filed May 17, 1898. Serial No. 680,998. (No model.)

caster-sockets, and more particularly to such sockets made of a single integral piece of sheet metal; and its object is to provide the same with certain new and useful features, hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the sheet-metal blank before. forming; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the socket complete; Fig. 3, abottom View of the same, and Fig. 4 a vertical sec tion of the same on the line 4: 4 of Fig. Like letters refer to like parts in all of the figures.

, In such structures it is essential that there should be a tubular body havinga pintle-retainer (usually at the top) and a flange at the bottom to engage the end of the wood in which the socket is inserted. Attempts have been made to draw the tube from the metal of the center of a disk, the outer part of the disk forming the flange; another'to turn the flange outward on the end ofa tube. Both are difficult and expensive and the amount of metal available is insufficient. It has been proposed to form others from a sheet-metal blank adapted to be doubled upon itself in two semicylindrical parts, having other parts forming the flange. These are unstable in form ,wasteful of material, and open to'other minor objections. It has also been proposed to form the device from a substantially rectangular piece of sheet metal slitted longitudinally and the slitted portions turned outward at a right angle to serve as a flange and with radiatin g convex surfaces. This form is unsubstantial and there is great tendency to break and pull apart at the junction of the tube and radial parts and there is not sufficient bearing for the yoke of the caster. Pintle-retainers are usually formed by longitudinally slit-' ting or dividing the tube and bending the upperpart inward. Chips from boring the holes or other obstructions are liable to get behind these parts, and, having no escape, in-

terfere more or less with their action or cause them to be inoperative. To remedy these defects, I provide a blank of sheet metal of peculiar form, which when rolled and stamped into proper shape will produce a tubular body adapted to fit closely within'the wood and formed with a single longitudinal seam and having at its lower end a continuous annular half-round outwardly-extended bead which gives strength at this point and distributes the stretch and drawing of the metal, also prevents cracking and weakening at the junction of the flange with the tubular body, and also provides a sufficient bearing for the yoke of the caster and radial portions extending outward to engage the surface of the wood and provide sufficient flange-surface to pre- Vent forcing the socket inward by the weight thereon.

The improvement in the pintle-retainer consists in providing'a short tubular upper portion of less radius than the body and separated therefrom by a transverse slot and having a single longitudinal seam and vertical sides. This will expand and let the head pass through and will permit the escape of any obstructions through the slot that may get between this upper portion and the wood.

The blank is made of suitable sheet metal, preferably soft steel, and consists of a substantially rectangular portion A, across the lower end of which portion is a narrow transverse portion B, having projections B B" at the respective ends thereof, and extending laterally from the lower side of the portion B are a number of triangular portions 0 C 0, (preferably three in number.) Above the portion A are transverse slots D D, above which is a transverse portion E, which extends to a distance somewhat less than the width of the portion A. The described blank 7 IOO bearing for the head of the yoke in which the caster-wheel is journaled and also forms a stiff rim around the lower end of the socket to engage the wood in which said socket is inserted and having little tendency to break at its junction with the tubular portion. The triangular portions 0 are left flat and serve to engage the bottom of the wood and afford an effectual bearing-surface to keep the socket from being forced upward by the pressure of the load, and the portions 13 afford material to complete the bead B at the seam. The points 0 of the triangular portions form spurs to enter the wood and hold the socket from coming out, and the inwardly-turned arms of the portion E form springsto engage the neck of the caster-pintle and detaehably retain the same in place, allowing anything that may get behind them to escape downward through the slots D D. It will be observed that there is no inclined yielding portion whatever behind which anything can lodge and that the yielding parts of the pintleretainers are vertically separate from the tube and inside the plane thereof.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a caster-socket, a tube formed of a single piece of sheet metal and having but one longitudinal seam, an annular bead at one end thereof and integral therewith at its inner edge, and flat radially-projecting portions integral with the outer rim of the bead and detached from each other at their adjacent sides, substantially as described.

2. In a caster-socket, a tube formed of a single rectangular piece of metal and having a single longitudinal seam, an annular bead integral with said tube at its inner edge, flat triangular portions extending radially from the outer rim of said bead and integral therewith and detached from each other at their adjacent sides and having their outer angles turned upward, substantially as described.

3. In a caster-socket, a tubular body having a suitable flange at its lower end, and a pintle-retainer at its upper end consisting of atransversely-separated tubular extension of less diameter than said body and in parallel planes therewith, and having a single longitudinal seam at one side and a rigid connection with said body, said connecting portion also being in line with the side of the said body, substantially as described.

4;. In a caster-socket, a tubular body formed of a single rectangular piece of sheet metal and having a single longitudinal seam, a transverse slot near the upper part of the same severing the side having the seam and leaving a connecting portion opposite the seam and in line with the balance of the tube, the portion of the tube above said slot being of less radius than the portion below the same and flexible at each side of the seam, substan tially as described.

5. A caster-socket consisting of a single integral piece of sheet metal having a tubular body having a single longitudinal seam and havinga transverse slot leaving a narrow connecting portion, said portion being in line with the said body, the portion above the slot being of less radius than the portion below the same, an integral outwardly-extended bead at the lower end of said tube, and triangular portions extending outward from the bead and having their ends turned upward at right angles, substantially as described.

6. As an article of manufacture, a blank for caster-sockets consisting of a single piece of sheet metal having a rectangular body portion to forma tubular body with a single longitudinal seam, a transverse portion to form a bead and having end extensions to complete the bead at the seam, and divided portions extending laterally from said transverse portion to extend radially from said bead, substantially as described.

7. As an article of manufacture, a blank for caster-sockets consisting of a piece of sheet metal having a rectangular portion, a T- shaped portion at one end thereof, a transverse portion at the other end thereof having end extensions, and triangular portions extending laterally from said transverse portion, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS O. MASON. lVitnesses:

LUTHER V. MoULToN, LEWIS E. FLANDERS. 

